


close your eyes and listen to my voice, i'm always by your side

by earthseaBorealis



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Adulthood, Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - No Sburb/Sgrub Sessions, Animal Crossing - Freeform, Camping, Gen, Growing Up, Humanstuck, References to Depression, video games - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-10
Updated: 2020-04-10
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:00:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23580475
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/earthseaBorealis/pseuds/earthseaBorealis
Summary: There are only three things Nepeta needs in life: Cats, Animal Crossing, and her BFF. However, pursuing a degree in Veterinary Sciences keeps forcing her away from such things. Good thing Terezi Pyrope is here to save her!
Relationships: Nepeta Leijon & Terezi Pyrope, Terezi Pyrope/Vriska Serket (mentioned)
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11
Collections: Ladystuck Art/Fic Exchange 2020





	close your eyes and listen to my voice, i'm always by your side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [notsafeforgoblin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/notsafeforgoblin/gifts).



> My Ladystuck 2020 piece for @not-safe-for-goblin on Tumblr! They requested "Pale! Neprezi playing video games" and I immediately knew that I had to write a piece with Animal Crossing! Hope you enjoy it :D

Orange rays of sunlight kissed the cloudless morning sky. Nepeta stared up at it, bouncing her knee up and down as she stood barefoot on her best friend’s porch. It was just barely nine o’clock in the morning… way too early to bother Terezi, especially when it wasn’t a school day. Despite everything, she’d rushed there on a whim, only grabbing her favorite green windbreaker and the keys to her car… oh and of course her car, she could never forget something like that. All she had to do was knock… it was that simple, yet her fist was frozen in place and no matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t will it upward. 

She was about to turn around when the door burst open and Terezi’s older sister walked out. She immediately grinned and flipped her long hair (or her mullet, as Terezi called it). “Hey Nep, you looking for Rezi,” she asked.

A slight blush dusted Nepeta’s cheeks as she nodded, “Sorry if she’s not awake, I can come back some other time, or just text her y’know… like a normal teenager?”

The older girl pushed Nepeta inside and up the stairs, “Nonsense. That girl will sleep ‘till two if no one bothers her. Wake her up at a reasonable time for once. Please.”

“Okay, okay, but if she murders me, I’m blaming you,” Nepeta chuckled, the corners of her lips turning upwards. Though, she still continued to look down, focusing on her still bare, and terribly cold, feet.

Latula ruffled the other girl’s hair before turning around, “I’ll defend you in the court case if it comes to that. Now stop stallin’ and get your ass in there.”

Nepeta rolled her eyes and slowly opened the bedroom door, ignoring the bright blue sign reading “trespassers will be persecuted on sight.” Despite how cheesy it was, Nepeta laughed at it every time. She didn’t doubt the message at all though. Even if Terezi couldn’t see, she’d stop the ‘intruder’ immediately and demand a trial, that’ was one of many things she loved about her best friend. She was incredibly spunky and refused to take anybody’s bullshit. Oh, and-

Nepeta sighed, shit, she was stalling again… not only on her homework but for simple things, like talking to her friend! Really there was no reason to be so nervous, Terezi wouldn’t care about whatever stupid thing she said, but, damn was she anxious about this whole situation. Screw it, she could totally face this problem head-on, like Equius wanted her to, like Vwiskers and Kanaya did. She took a deep and breath and pounced onto Terezi’s bed (it was really just a pile of various dragon stuffies and blankets). “Rise and shine sleepyhead! You know what they say! The early kitten gets the mitten,” she shouted. 

“Nepeta, I swear to god! Did Latula put you up to this,” Terezi muttered incoherently as she swatted the other girl off the bed?

“Hmmm, maybe,” Nepeta giggled, “Or maybe I just wanted to see the most pawesome girl in the universe, silly!”

Terezi cackled, “Sure, sure… I smell bullshit! Now, what’s your real motive, Leijon.” By now, she had rolled on the ground next to Nepeta and was currently poking her head with her foot. 

“I plead the fifth! I’ll even state it for you,” Nepeta fake coughed, for the dramatic effect, “No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or rather infamous-” She cut herself off with a high-pitched squeal as Terezi pinned her to the ground and tickled her armpits. 

“Nice to see you actually remember something from my rants! Too bad you’ve already been deemed guilty,” she exclaimed, “Now face your punishment.”

“No, no, no! Please… let me explain… my… self!” Nepeta screamed between fits of laughter. Hey, at least she’d managed to wake up Terezi, and she was in a pretty good mood nonetheless!

“Fine, I’ll give you one shot! Or else,” she smiled mischievously while moving off of the other girl. 

Nepeta sat up, leaning against the bed frame. She started fiddling with her fingers again, taking her blue mittens on and off again. “So you know how, like, university sucks every so often? Our teachers are super duper nice, of course, but they really just don’t understand? Our workload and stuff?”

“Seconded,” Terezi interrupted, “Sorry, go on.”

“You’re fine,” she assured, “I’m just kinda, y’know, sick of it all? Can’t I just play Animal Crossing for ten hours in a row like I did as a kid? Or just play with kittens instead of schoolwork? I just… I just want to go back to enjoying the summer, like we did back in high school, with all our friends, but now! We’re just all over the place, and… and hours away from one another!”

“Damn, Peta… that was a lot to throw at me… gimme a second,” Terezi said. She just sat there for a couple of minutes, seemingly analyzing the whole situation. 

Nepeta about jumped out of her skin when Terezi finally spoke up though. “So, I totally agree. As much as I can’t wait to be a kickass lawyer, school sucks ass. Ugh, I hate admitting that she’s right, but I think we should think like Vriska. How about we just fuck off to the middle of nowhere, but instead of just sitting there and listing off all the amazing things we do… don’t give me that look, you know that’s what she’d do!”

“I know you’re still upset about her leaving all of us in the dust… I miss her too but isn’t she more of the type to just face all her problems head-on,” Nepeta asked. 

“Duh, that’s why she’s always in trouble! I mean like let’s just go somewhere! Anywhere! Just away from this small town! Let’s take a break, cool down, and then come back all revved up,” she explained. 

“As much as I’d absolutely love to do that,” Nepeta started, “I just… we just can’t.” Okay yes, the idea of a trip was all Nepeta dreamed of, but she just couldn’t go. Even if she didn’t want to do it, she still had schoolwork, a job, her cats… she couldn’t just leave all of that. 

“Fine, fine, fine. I won’t push you!” Terezi smirked, “Do you happen to have a tent laying around? Preferably a bright red one, but  _ I guess _ anything will do, given the circumstances.”

Nepeta furrowed her brows, “Uhm, a small one, but it’s not red… why?”

“According to Wikihow, camping out in your backyard is a quote-on-quote, “money-saving and non-time-consuming way to go on vacation.” Oh! And it’s perfect for little grubs, just like us,” Terezi explained.

“Really? Are you serious,” the other girl squealed, “I’d love to... I’ll go get my stuff right now!” Barely able to contain her excitement, Nepeta hopped off of the floor and dashed over to the door. 

Terezi pulled down her tinted glasses and winked, “And while you do that, I’ll make room for the most epic campground of all time. Be prepared, it’ll knock your socks off!”

And thus the two girls raced off to get their parts of the campout completed (with a few cat snuggles on Nepeta’s part). Now, they stood in front of a pile of tent pieces, utterly confused at which what thing went where. 

“So… do you know how to build a tent,” Nepeta asked hesitantly. Being honest, she’d never gone camping before. Her sister detested sleeping in the middle of the woods, which was the complete opposite of Nepeta. She loved to go run out in the woods for hours, teasing wild animals and collecting various leaves and flowers. The cheap, small tent was from her childhood, when her mother would occasionally take her on a campout, in the middle of the backyard, of course. It was the next best thing to camping in the woods. 

“You’re asking the blind girl,” Terezi laughed, “Just start sticking stuff together! It’s bound to work, right?” She picked up two long sticks, banging them together.

After at least an hour of combining random pieces, Nepeta was semi-proud of the tent the two had built. Sure, it was a little lopsided, but it was a little messed up, just like them. 

“Now  _ that _ is what I call a tent,” Terezi exclaimed while holding a pile of blankets, pillows, and stuffed dragons, “All we have to do is get cozy! And make some delicious smores over the stove!”

“Oh, and I had to bring Animal Crossing,” Nepeta added, “It’s the perfect game for two friends avoiding their responsibilities, right?” The two girls crawled into the unstable tent, dropping the various items of comfort onto a pile, in which they immediately piled onto.

“Ding, ding, ding! So, what villagers do you have now? Because I am so ready to test how resilient they are,” Terezi said as the game started up. The two began playing, Nepeta choosing a much more ‘pacifist’ route than Terezi, who chose to berate the NPCs. 

This went on for hours before Nepeta decided to speak up, “Hey… I just wanted to thank you, y’know, for all of this… for just always being there for me.”

“There’s no need to thank me,” Terezi assured her, “But you’re welcome, I guess. I’m just glad I could be your knight and save the day.” She kept her head down, leaning down towards the screen as she continued to hit various villagers with her net. She always claimed that it was how to actually beat the game, which was wrong on so many levels, but instead of stopping her, Nepeta instead would erupt in a fit of giggles. She could always gain her villagers’ favor by giving them gifts anyways!

“I know, but I just wanted to let you know,” Nepeta paused, searching for the right words, “I don’t feel like everyone realizes how great of a friend you are. You’ve been there for me, since, well fur-ever! I know I’ve been difficult sometimes, like right now, but I really just appreciate everything you do… and for recognizing that I’m not just some peppy cat-obsessed girl all of the time… and for letting me actually show my sadder sides.” She put aside the console and went to hug the other girl, nuzzling into her shoulder. 

“I really should be saying the same about you, ‘Peta,” Terezi murmured, wrapping her arm around Nepeta’s shoulder and pulling her close. She could feel the other girl shake, and she knew it wasn’t just from the chilly spring air. 

“Well, thank you,” she bit her lip, “Listen… I know you kinda know this already, but if you want to talk about… Vriska… or really anything, I’m here for you, okay?” She felt Terezi stiffen at the mention of  _ her _ name. It was a difficult topic. Neither of them was the best with emotions. Sure, Nepeta had her shipping charts and dreams of living out her fantasies, but actually applying her feelings was way too scary to think about. And Terezi… she was difficult, for lack of better words. Nepeta knew she liked to appear confident and strong, and that she didn’t like having a soft side, which she could understand.

“Can we save this for another night, please,” Terezi whispered, “I want to talk about it, just… not tonight. I want to leave our worries behind for once… not tonight, but ask me again, later, and I’ll try, okay”

Nepeta nodded, “Of course, ‘Rezi… as long as we forget about all of my schoolwork as well… well, wanna try drowning our feelings in Animal Crossing and smores?”

So in the end, sure, maybe Nepeta was still putting off her assignments, and maybe Terezi was putting off actually talking about her complicated relationship with Vriska, but they both still had some time. Besides, there were more important things to worry about for now, like building a courthouse for seagulls who washed up on her island’s shore with her best fur-iend fur-ever!


End file.
